Improvement in office-time indicators



JAMES s'. SMITH.

Improvement in Office Time Indicators.

No. 119,891. Patented 0Ct.1o,1871,

'/ ABBOTT. BROWN. COOMBS.

il. n@ u $5 i. u fik @l @eeeml @wel UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JAMES S. SMITH, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 119,891, dated October 10, 1871.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES S. SMITH, of Middletown, Middlesex county, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hour-Registers, ot' which the following is a speciiication:

The register is intended, like others of its class, to be used on the doors ot' otlices and in analogous positions, to indicate, when the occupant is out, at what hour he may be expected back. It dii'lers Ai'rom any known to me in its adaptation to indicate the time ot return ot' more than one occupant, and is very simple and cheap. Itis little liable to get out oi' order, but in the event ot' loss of any part it can be very easily replaced.

The following is a description. ot' what I consider the best means of carrying out the inven tion. The accompanying drawing iorms a part of this specification.

Fi gurc l is a face or trout view oi' the complete register in use. It shows that one occupant ot' the room is in, and that two more who are out will return at the same hour, six Fig. 2 is halt oi' a corresponding back view. Fig. 3 is a vertical section in the plane of one of the buttons, and Fig. 4: is a section through one ot' the buttons and the spring which is attached and forms part of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the iigures.

M is a plate ot' cast-iron, hard rubber, papiermacho, sheet metal, or other suitable material adapted to receive upon itself or upon a piece of paper or analogous material attached, the names of three parties who are occupants of a room. The names are marked, as represented, under the letters A, B, and C, which are represent-ed by corresponding letters marked upon the separate indexes, to be described below. A long straight slot, m, in the body M, is adapted to receive the shanks of the buttons A B C. The front of each button is larger than the slot, the shank is a little smaller, and the back is riveted on a thin spring of tempered steel or analogous material, indicated by S. The springs are sut'iciently narrow to allow the button with its attached spring to be withdrawn from the slot m in the proper position, so that the spring coincides with the slot. Under ordinary conditions, when in use, the button is turned so that thc Spring stands transversely to the slot. Each spring is curved, as represented, to allow it to be introduced and turned round to engage with the body M with facility. Each button has, on the front, an arm, a. Each button is capable of turning so as to present its arm a in various oblique positions, or it may stand pointing directly upward or directly downward. Each button may be changed in position endwise in the slot, either by sliding it along forcibly without turning, or by turning it so as to liberate it and then moving it to the new position and reintroducing or engaging' it. Either button may be shifted past one or both of the others by thus removing and reinsertin g it. A line of numbers, l, 2, 3, tre., up to 7, is arranged a little distance above and parallel to the slot m, and a corresponding line from 8 to l2 is fixed a little distance below and parallel to said slot.

The button A, standing for 011e of the occupants or the room, is adjusted by that occupant on his leaving the room, to indicate the hour of his return. It is fixed with the arm a extending upward or downward, according to which ligure it is designed to indicate. In case two or more of the occupants ofthe room intend returning at the same hour, the buttons are placed as close together as may be, and inclined so that the eX- tremities ot' the arms c will converge at or near the desired hour. I can, by making the plate longer, arrange the figures all in one line, and I can, in such case, employ two of the slots m, one above and one below the line of figures. In such case there may be a corresponding increase in the number of the movable partsA B, &c.,wl1ich I have termed buttons. The ordinary provisions for indicating by words the meaning of the indications, and for indicating that either or all of the parties are 111, or that they are out for an indefinite period, are contained upon the register, as will be noticed.

I claim- In an office-time indicator, the movable and turnable buttons A B C, Snc., adapted to be connected and disconnected and changed to various positions in the slot m, as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses. Witnesses: JAMES S. SMITH.

C. C. LrvnNes,

ARNOLD HOERMANN. 

